Idle Wind
by shadowkitsune95
Summary: Every Hokage faces their own problems and Naruto's are just beginning
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I, Shadowkitsune95, don't own Naruto.**

**I haven't gotten very far on my other story **_New Moon _**but I thought this one was better written and I liked the idea so I decided to put it up. Hope you enjoy.**

Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, one of the five great ninja nations. Twenty-four years ago this village was attacked by an awesome threat - a nine-tailed fox that claimed the lives of the Fourth Hokage and countless others. Today, peace has returned, and a trouble making orphan named Uzumaki Naruto has achieved the one goal that for so long people had mocked him for. Naruto, container of the nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi, has finally become Hokage.

As of now the hyper active blonde was bouncing around his office, 'examining' this or that. "It's mine, it's mine! It's finally mine!" he laughed, after finding the Hokage robes and throwing them on.

"Yes, and you look ridiculous in them. They're way to big." Replied his assistant, Akagawa Mayko, setting a large pile of paperwork on his desk.

"She's right Naruto. You should get them fitted or else you're gonna end up ruining it." commented Haruno Sakura as she picked up a fold of the robe.

Naruto wasn't listening to her anymore though and was instead looking at the pile of paper Mayko had set on his desk, "Oi! What's all that for?"

Mayko shrugged, "Mission reports and stuff. As Hokage you have to go through them all, reading everything and signing what needs to be signed." Mayko smirked, "You didn't think that as Hokage you'd be able to sit on you ass all day, did you?"

"Well, no, but I also thought I wouldn't have to do loads of paperwork. That's what I have you for isn't it?" He asked, pulling the robe out of Sakura's hand and walking over to the desk to shuffle quickly through the papers.

Mayko rolled her eyes, "I'm an assistant, Naruto, not your servant."

Naruto blinked and looked up at her, "There's a difference?"

Sakura and Mayko hit the back of Naruto's head simultaneously, earning a yelp from the newly made Hokage, "Serves you right." Was what they said in response to his puppy dog eyes.

"But I'm the Hokage now, you can't do that!" The blonde objected.

"Can." Mayko began.

"And will." Finished Sakura.

"You guys are mean." Whimpered Naruto, throwing himself into the chair behind his desk.

"At least we can rest easy knowing they'll keep you out of trouble." Came the voice of Yamanaka Ino.

Naruto, Mayko and Sakura turned to the doorway to see Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru. Ino pushed her way through the door, followed closely by her teammates, "How's it feel to be Hokage now, eh?" she asked when she reached the desk.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed brightly.

Ino was now head of ANBU torture and interrogation, having taken over after Ibiki retired last year, and she was good. Scary good. Chouji had opened his own BBQ stand, where he worked when he wasn't on missions. He had recently turned down an offer to join ANBU, opting to instead remain a jounin. Shikamaru on the hand was now working with ANBU intelligence and though he had yet to make Head of Intelligence he still basically had the whole place under his control.

"We were stopping by to see if you wanted to join us for lunch. We were heading over to Ichiraku." Chouji said.

"Awesome! Count me in!" Naruto said jumping up and racing around the desk. He was stopped dead in his tracks when Sakura grabbed the back of his robes.

"You aren't wearing those anywhere until you get them fitted."

"But Sakuraaaaa." Whined Naruto.

"But nothing," Sakura glared, "You'll ruin them."

"I'll be extra, extra careful, I promise."

"Off. Now." Sakura all but growled.

"Fine." Naruto pouted and shrugged off the robes before handing them to Sakura, "Can I still wear the hat?" he asked. Sakura sighed but nodded all the same. "Yeah!" Naruto cried and once again tried to leave, but this time was foiled by a glaring Mayko standing in his way.

"And what about the paperwork?" She asked.

"Aw man, come on Mayko, let me go. Please?"

"Naruto, that stuff's important. It needs to get done." Mayko said, crossing her arms.

"And it will! As soon as I get back!" He said, and ran past her and out the door before she could protest.

"Don't worry." Laughed Ino, grabbing Chouji and Shikamaru by the arm and dragging the backwards out of the room, "we won't keep him out late."

Sakura watched them leave before turning back to the younger kunoichi that leaned sullenly against the desk. Mayko looked up at her frowning, "I'm gonna end up having to do the paperwork, aren't I?"

**So, that's all I have so far. I feel kinda bad for Shikamaru, he was there, but he didn't have any lines, poor guy. Anyways, that's it for now. I gotta go finish the next chapter for**_ New Moon_


	2. Chapter 2

…**I've nothing to say, surprisingly enough…**

Mayko and Ino walked though the door to the Hokage tower, each holding a cup of coffee. "What do you mean he never showed up?" asked Ino, taking a cautious sip of her hot coffee.

"He never showed up. I waited practically all night for him to come back. I ended up doing all the paperwork myself." Mayko replied.

"Well, don't blame me. I told him to go back the moment he left Ichiraku. He probably got side tracked; you know how short his attention span is." Ino said matter-of-factly, "As for doing all his paperwork, you should have just left it."

"I couldn't though. It's all really important stuff and we're already behind because Lady Tsunade never did her stuff either. I mean, I was looking through the files and everything's out of order. It'll take weeks to get everything back in place again." Mayko sighed dejectedly.

"Naruto'll help; he just needs to settle down a bit. He's really excited. You didn't know him back in the Academy days, but all he ever talked about was being Hokage and getting respect. Now that he has it he doesn't want to be stuck doing boring paperwork, he wants to enjoy the attention everyone's now willing to give him. Give him some time and everything will be fine, I promise. If it isn't I'll help you get everything sorted." Ino said, smiling brightly.

Mayko glanced at Ino from the corner of her eyes as the two began to climb the spiraling staircase to the top floor, "Don't you mean you'll send over a bunch of your underlings to help."

"Hey, if you've got the power, flaunt it." Ino winked.

"I'm just glad you're not Hokage-you scare me." Mayko smiled. Climbing the rest of the stairs in near silence the two soon reached the large double doors that led to the Hokage Office. Pushing the door open the two were greeted by the sight of Naruto passed out on the couch in the corner of the room that Tsunade had insisted be put there so she'd have a comfortable place to sleep off any hangover she may have acquired.

Ino grinned, "See? What I tell you?"

"Sleeping on the couch doesn't help me in the slightest." Mayko said.

"Hey," shrugged Ino, "at least he's here."

Mayko rolled her eyes and walked over to the desk, the surface of which was already completely covered with paperwork. Mayko cleared off a spot to set down the cup of coffee she'd been holding. As she did this, Ino crossed the room to where Naruto slept and began the process of trying to wake him up.

Ino gently shook Naruto's shoulder and when she failed to get a reaction out of the blonde she shook him a little harder whispering, "Naruto, wakey, wakey. It's time to get up." With no reaction forth coming the blonde kunoichi sighed and knelt down to poke his forehead, "Come on, wake up you little brat."

Naruto groaned and batted her hand away before rolling over, his back now to the rather irritated kunoichi. Mayko glanced over her shoulder at the two as she straightened the piles of paperwork, "stupid Hokage sleeps like the damn dead."

Ino ignored Mayko in favor of grabbing Naruto's feet to drag him off the couch. He landed with a rather pronounced 'thud', and abruptly woke up. The first thing out of his mouth being, "What the hell was that for?"

"Sleeping in." Glared Ino, "Anyway, my work here's done, I gotta be getting to HQ. See you guys for lunch?"

"Yeah, why not." Shrugged Mayko.

"Can we have Ichiraku again?" Naruto asked, jumping happily to his feet.

Ino sighed, "I don't know, I have to consult the others." She said as she walked to the door, "See ya."

"See ya." Naruto chirped and bounced over to his chair. He flopped down in the seat and reached for the coffee Mayko had set down, "You drinkin' this?"

Mayko shook her head, "No, go ahead. I'm not really fond of the stuff," she said, "I just got it because Ino dragged me in on the way here."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks." He took a large gulp and yelped, "Ouch! Hot!"

Mayko looked up at him, "Of course it is. It's coffee, you dumb nut."

"…Dumb nut?" questioned Naruto, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" Mayko stuck her tongue out at him.

"Anyways, what's on the agenda today?" Asked Naruto twirling around in his chair.

"Well," said Mayko, flipping idly through a folder so eloquently marked 'stuff' in Tsunade's handwriting, "You have a meeting to meet with your new chuunin guards at ten..."

"Chuunin? Why can't I have jounin, or ANBU?" He asked stopping his chair.

"'Cause it's tradition, Naruto. Don't question tradition." Mayko glared over the top of the folder.

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his seat kicking his feet up onto the desk, leaving shoe marks on a bunch of important papers, "I wasn't questioning."

"You were questioning."

"I wasn't." Naruto insisted.

"You were." Mayko replied.

"Fine, I was questioning," Sighed Naruto, "But tradition's boring."

"No one said it wasn't, but it works."

"But it's boring."

"Yes, and you're Hokage now. If you wanted fun, you should have stayed as far away from this position as possible."

"You're no fun." Pouted Naruto.

"…I would be lots more fun if _someone_ would help me with the filing…"

"…Are you hinting at something?"

Mayko sighed dejectedly, "no, Naruto, not a thing."

"What are these guys like?" Naruto asked, lifting up his feet so that Mayko could pull the already messed up papers from beneath his shoes.

"The chuunin?" Mayko asked, as she stuffed the papers into the folder and set it aside, "No idea. I've never met them before. The council picked them out." Mayko looked around briefly before picking up another folder, "This was dropped off last night. It has the basic info about them, but not much else."

"Basic info?" asked Naruto taking the folder from Mayko.

"Yeah. Like their names, rank, age, that kind of stuff." She explained.

Naruto nodded and flipped it open. His eyes skimmed the first page, "Fukugawa Reiko...sixteen years old…she was only recently made chuunin." Naruto said.

"Mm?" Mayko looked over Naruto's shoulder, "Oh, yeah, you're right. I think she was from the last batch of genin that took the chuunin exam."

"If she's so new shouldn't she be doing regular missions instead of guarding the Hokage?" he wondered.

Mayko shrugged, "She wouldn't have been my first choice either, but we don't have a say in it."

Naruto sighed, "Tradition sucks." He flipped to the next page, "Hm, he's a bit older. He's twenty-one, names Tanaka Daichi."

"Isn't he that one punk that set the academy on fire before graduation?" asked Mayko.

Naruto thought about it for awhile before grinning, "Hey, yeah, you're right! Iruka was so mad. He ranted about it for a good hour or two when we went to get Ichiraku." Naruto closed the file and threw it on his desk, "I think I'm gonna like him."

"I think I'm gonna have to start carry aspirin around." Mayko muttered.

**So that's chapter two. Next chapter you get to meet the Naruto's new guards. I would have intorduced them in this chapter and posted it tomorrow, but somehow I ended up getting stuck with a bunch of yard work tomorrow. So yeah, that's it. Hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto was miserable. He's spent the better part of the morning doing paperwork. It's taken an excruciatingly long lecture form Mayko to get him to start and all he'd gotten for his hard work so far was a cramped hand and a seemingly never diminishing pile of papers. Plus the chuunin he was supposed to have met with had failed to show up at the appointed time. This had sorely disappointed the blonde who had been counting on the meeting to give him a mush needed reprieve from paperwork.

Naruto glanced up at the clock that hung on the far wall of his office and heaved a sigh. It was a quarter past eleven; Mayko had left almost an hour ago. He wasn't even completely sure why she'd left in the first place. He had a vague memory of her tying to tell him, but he had already tuned her out, partially sure that she had started up on another lecture about one thing or another. When he'd first looked up from the paperwork to discover that she was gone he'd been confused, then angry. She'd spent forever lecturing him about proper work habits then she up and ran off, leaving him to do all the boring stuff.

His anger, however, had only lasted five minutes at the most. He soon came to the conclusion that Mayko was way to work oriented to have run off unless it was something that had, had to be done. His brain then decided to try to pick apart the inner working of his assistant's mind. This line of thought had only succeeded in confusing him and he decided that it was no longer worth pursuing and had, rather reluctantly, returned to his work afraid that Mayko would walk back in any second and catch him slacking.

But now, an hour later, he'd had enough. Naruto tossed the pen he'd been using to the side and stood up. He slowly stretched and made his way over to the couch, which he sprawled himself across. The way he figured it he'd earned this break and could always use the 'you left' card on Mayko is she caught him. Naruto closed his eyes, willing his body to relax.

Just when Naruto was beginning to wonder how much trouble he'd be in if he skipped the rest of the day, the door to his office was thrown open. Naruto jumped about a foot in the air and for the second time that day, he found himself lying, rather painfully, on the floor next to the couch. He sat up, rubbing his head and watched as two vaguely familiar ninja stormed into the office, closely followed by an exasperated Mayko.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to get you two lost." Mayko said reasonably, as she closed the doors. Glancing at the unoccupied desk, a confused look briefly flashed across her face before she turned to see Naruto sitting on the ground. Naruto, who had been waiting for her to yell at him, was quite surprised when the kunoichi silently mouthed 'help' before turning her attention back to the others.

The smaller of the two unfamiliar ninja was a kunoichi with a blue-black hair pulled back in a tight bun and dark green eyes behind a pair of thin framed glasses. Naruto's mind searched around for a name before he recalled the information Mayko had given him earlier that morning. This kunoichi was Fukugawa Reiko.

Switching his gaze to the second ninja, Naruto guessed that he was suppose to be his second chuunin guard, Tanaka Daichi. Daichi stood a head taller then Naruto and had wild, rather spiky red hair and brown eyes. Daichi didn't wear the normal chuunin uniform; in fact that only normal thing about his whole attire was the chuunin vest. The rest of his clothing was what one may describe as 'punk'.

"No, he did it on purpose! He's always doing stuff like this!" Reiko accused as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

"I do not!" Daichi exclaimed childishly. He crossed his arms over his chest and cast a death glare at the two kunoichi.

"But anyone can get lost in that part of the village." Mayko was really staring to wish Naruto would quit staring and do something.

As if reading her mind Naruto walked confidently between Reiko and Daichi. He turned to Daichi and poked the taller ninja in the chest while saying, "So it's your fault I was stuck doing paperwork all morning."

And that was how Mayko's forehead was formally introduced to the palm of her hand. That idiot was only going to make things worse! "Naruto…" Mayko groaned, though she went completely ignored.

Daichi looked taken aback for all of two seconds before replying. "Who the hell are you?"

It was Reiko's turn to introduce her palm to her forehead. "Daichi, you idiot! Were you not at the coronation ceremony? He's the Hokage!"

"You mean this **runt** is the guy I have to spend my precious time protecting?" Daichi asked, looking Naruto up and down doubtfully. "There's no way this kid's the Hokage."

"I'm **not** a kid and I **am** the Hokage! Believe it!" Naruto shouted indignantly.

"It's true." Mayko cut in. "Reiko, Daichi allow me to formally introduce you to the sixth Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto."

Reiko immediately bowed to Naruto. "Lord Hokage, sir, it's an honor to be able to protect you. I promise I'll do my best!"

Daichi merely scoffed and muttered something about whiny teenage suck-ups.

Mayko sighed as Naruto glared at Daichi, ignoring the still bowing Reiko. "Before another argument can break out are there any questions?"

Reiko straightened from her bow and pushed her glasses up her nose. "No, ma'am. I'm just anxious to start my work."

The three other ninja gave her a weird look. All three quietly wondering how anyone could be so excited about work.

"Um, actually, I have a question," said Daichi. "When's lunch?"

"We only just got here, Daichi!" Reiko said in disbelief.

Naruto put a hand on his stomach as it gave a loud growl. "Actually, I'm hungry too."

"Oh." Mayko suddenly said, "That reminds me, Naruto. I ran into Ino while I was searching for Reiko and Daichi. She said that she won't be able to join you for lunch. Apparently her and Shikamaru are having a pretty busy day down at ANBU HQ."

"Then we should invite Sakura!" Naruto grinned and raced over to his desk.

Reiko, Daichi and Mayko watched curiously as the hyper active blonde pawed through all the drawers of his desk, finally pulling out a blank scroll. He then unburied a pen and hurriedly scribbled something onto the scroll. When he was done he rolled up the scroll, and once again, tossed the pen to the side. He then all but skipped back over to them.

"Here Reiko." He said, shoving the scroll into the younger ninja's hands. "Can you take this to Haruno Sakura down at the hospital?"

Reiko's eyes lit up. "You mean **the** Haruno Sakura?"

"Uh, yeah-I think." Naruto said, looking slightly confused.

"I've always wanted to meet her!" Reiko squealed happily. "Did you know that she trained under the Copy-nin **and** the fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade? She's a brilliant medic with unbelievable strength!"

Mayko and Naruto glanced sideways at each other as Daichi sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I'll leave right away!" Reiko said and dashed out the door.

"…Are you sure you want her protecting you?" asked Daichi, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't really mind if you wanted to switch her with someone else."

Naruto muttered something about tradition as he walked back over to the couch. Daichi looked curiously at Mayko who flashed him a bright smile before she left to go straighten the mess on Naruto's desk.

Daichi slowly shook his head and headed out the door to take up his position outside, wondering whether excepting this job and put his sanity on the line.

**So there was chapter three. I know this chapter took me a long time to post and I'm sorry for that, but Daichi didn't want to cooperate with me. I'm still not 100 happy with his character but it'll have to do for now I suppose. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**shadowkitsune95: This chapter took me FOREVER! It's really didn't want to work with me. Not only that, but school's killing me. So many reports! Anyway's sorry for the wait. Hope it was worth it.**

"So, Ino bailed out on lunch, huh? Can't say I blame her what with everything that's happening down at the ANBU HQ." Sakura said, idly twirling a pair of chopsticks in her hand.

Sakura, Naruto, Mayko and the newly made chuunin guards –Reiko and Daichi- sat in a private room in Chouji's BBQ stand. Chouji wasn't there, having taken on a mission earlier that morning. None-the-less, the group was quickly seated and was now eating their various meals.

"Wait, you know what's happening?" asked Naruto around a mouthful of food.

"I don't believe you haven't heard yet!" Reiko nearly shouted, "Didn't ANBU send you a report?"

Reiko slammed her hands down on the table, rattling the dishes, as she stood up, nearly knocking over her chair as she did so. "This is unacceptable! What is ANBU thinking?"

Daichi calmly reached up and pulled Reiko back into her seat. He sipped at his sake and said, "Relax kiddo."

This earned him a dirty look from the kunoichi, but it was soon gone as she wailed, "Relax? How can I relax when ANBU has slipped so much?" By this point in time, the young ninja was almost sobbing.

"Did you _see_ the pile of papers on Blondie's desk? I bet ANBU sent the report over last night, but out great leader here has yet to read it. Ain't that right, Blondie?" Daichi smirked.

Naruto had the sense to look ashamed.

Mayko sighed. She sat down her chopsticks and leaned back in her chair. "So, Sakura, care to enlighten us?"

The pink-haired medic-nin shrugged. "You'd be better off reading the report. I'm sure there's tons of stuff ANBU neglected to tell us medics, but, what the hell, I'll give it a shot."

Sakura made herself as comfortable as she could and took a deep breath before continuing. "Yesterday a jounin on his way back from a mission found the bodies of three ANBU. These ANBU were two days late in returning from an assassination, but no search part had yet to be sent out."

"Who were they assassinating?" asked Reiko, curiously. She seemed to have calmed down some to which the others were thankful.

Sakura shrugged again. "Some big shot's son up in the Land of Lightening."

"Is it possible the targets parents had the ANBU killed? You know, for revenge?" Mayko suggested.

"Possible, but highly unlikely. Besides it was the target's parents that hired us." Sakura sat her chopsticks down and stretched.

"Why didn't they just hire the ninja of Kumogakure then?" Daichi asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Who knows." Sakura sighed. "Anyways, are you guys done interrupting?"

"Yeah, sorry Sakura." Reiko apologized.

"Good. Now where was I?" Sakura was silent for a few seconds before remembering where she left off. "Oh yeah! Okay, so, the deceased ANBU have been scheduled to have autopsies done –which is the only reason I know what's going on. There's no obvious sign of death, so poisons are at the top of my list at the moment. I'm doing two of the autopsies, Hinata's doing the third."

"Hinata's doing it?" Naruto asked, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, she's really starting to get into this medic stuff. Honestly, at first I didn't think she'd be able to do it, but now…"

"Guys, _focus_!" Mayko shouted, easily grabbing everyone's attention. "ANBU murder mystery, remember?"

Sakura sighed and sank down in her seat some. "Sorry, but I can't tell you more then that. It's all I know. You'll just have to find the report."

Mayko nodded and abruptly stood up. "Alright, Daichi, you're coming with me."

"I am?" The red-head asked looking slightly confused.

"Yes, you are. Now lets go." Mayko spun around and started walking towards the door.

Daichi quickly downed the rest of his drink and stood up to follow the determined kunoichi. "Okay, so…where are we going?"

"We're going to find that report." Mayko said stopping and turning around to give Daichi a look that clearly said she thought he was an idiot.

Daichi's jaw dropped. "But have you _seen_ Naruto's desk? It looks like he set off a friggin' paper bomb, or something like that anyway."

"What? It's not that bad!" Naruto shouted his mouth full of food. This resulted in him spitting bits of food as he shouted.

Sakura made a disgusted face and recoiled from the table. "That's disgusting! Swallow, Naruto!" She shrieked.

Mayko rolled her eyes. "Of course it's not, Naruto. Anyway I want you to come back to the Hokage Tower when you're done eating. Reiko if you'd be so kind as to make sure he gets there…"

"Yes! I will." Reiko gave an awkward salute and pushed her glassed back up.

"Good. See you around, Sakura." Mayko grabbed Daichi's arm and dragged him out of the BBQ stand and down eh street to the Hokage Tower.

An hour later found the duo in a sea of important documents and scrolls that were suppose to have been read weeks ago. More and more kept appearing too, yet there was still no sign of the ANBU report at all.

"Argh! This is impossible!" Daichi cried, throwing a scroll across the room. The scroll bounced off the wall and unrolled itself along the floor, to eventually disappear beneath the desk.

"Don't throw things! These are important!" Mayko snapped. She had multiple paper cuts, her eyes hurt from trying to read Tsunade's messy handwriting and ANBU's microscopic handwriting, Naruto and Reiko had yet to show up; and her patience was slowly, but surely wearing thin.

"I highly doubt that was anything important." Daichi said, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Oh really?" Mayko replied, also crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Really." Daichi said, " Unless, of course, you have a sudden interest in all of the Godaime's favorite gambling places.

"Right." Mayko sighed and unfolded her arms. "Not important."

"Why don't we just ask ANBU to resend the report?" asked Daichi, nudging a pile of scrolls to the side with his foot.

"Here' there's an idea! Why didn't I think of it?" Mayko rolled her eyes. "Come on, Daichi. I hardly think they have time to rewrite the report. Besides, it _has_ to be around here somewhere." Mayko looked despairingly over the paper filled room. "There has to be somewhere we haven't looked yet."

Daichi snorted. "Doubt it."

"Your optimism is killing me, Daichi, "Mayko said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You're killing me with your esteem, Mayko." Daichi retorted, easily matching Mayko's level of sarcasm.

"Ahoy, land lubbers!" a cheerful voice chirped from the doorway.

"There you are, Naruto!" Mayko said turning toward the door. "Where have you been? You were suppose to…why are you wearing a pirate hat?"

"What? This?" Naruto grinned, and adjusted his paper pirate hat. "I walked in here, saw all the papers, and thought 'damn, wouldn't it be great if I had a pirate hat?"

"Yeah, that's great and all but where'd it come from?" questioned Daichi, staring at the hat.

"Honestly?" Asked Naruto.

"Yes, honestly." Mayko growled impatiently.

Naruto shrugged. "In the hall."

"The hall?" The other two said in unison.

"Yup. The hall." Naruto nodded. "I turned around to go look for a pirate hat, saw the paper and decided that it was perfect for my hat."

Daichi and Mayko glance at each other before launching themselves across the room at Naruto. Naruto gave a small shriek of 'What'd I do?' before being tackled to the ground.

Daichi held the blonde down while Mayko took the hat and carefully unfolded it. She began to read it over, her face blank.

"So, what's the verdict?" asked Daichi, being to become impatient.

"Bingo. It must have slipped through the crack between the door and floor." Mayko said.

Naruto and Daichi moved closer to read the ANBU report over Mayko's shoulder. The more they read the more subdued they became. When they finished reading it Mayko handed the report to Naruto who reluctantly took it. Daichi then helped both of them back to their feet, where they continued to stand in a heavy, uncomfortable silence.

This silence, however, was soon broke when an ANBU came running down the hall toward them, shouting. "Lord Hokage! Another ANBU team was found!"

Naruto felt his heart plummet.


	5. Chapter 5

**First off I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update. Second, I want to apologize for how short this chapter is, but lately I've been very busy and haven't had time to update - and I'll admit procrastination also played a part. Anyway, for anyone still reading, thank you and I hope you enjoy the lastest chapter in Idle Wind.**

Naruto sat at the head of a long table in a dimly lit room. An emergency meeting had been called when news of the second ANBU murder had reached Naruto. So now he was waiting for everyone to arrive.

To his left sat Mayko who was nervously playing with a pen, tapping it rhythmically against the tabletop. Then there was Ino who was shuffling through a stack of papers she had brought with her. Next was Shikamaru who had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring straight ahead. Then came Shino; he was stilled dressed in his ANBU uniform, but had removed his mask as a courtesy to those who were finding their seats around the room.

To Naruto's right was Sakura. The pink haired medic-nin was staring resolutely at the table, her hands folded in her lap were white knuckled and shaking. Next to Sakura was Hinata who was sitting straight up in her seat and trying her hardest not to meet anyone's eyes. She too, was shaking. Then there was Chouji, who had just returned from his mission.

Kiba came next. He would occasionally cast a concerned look in Hinata's direction but other wise spent his time petting Akamaru who sat loyally by his feet. TenTen, Lee and Neji were mysteriously absent, and it didn't sit right with Naruto.

Naruto jumped slightly when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned to see Daichi, standing behind him smiling reassuringly. His other guard, Reiko, also stood near by, shifting from foot to foot, trying, and failing miserably, to look unconcerned. Naruto smiled back at Daichi and turned back around to see that everyone had finished finding their seats.

Sakura now stood up and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. Once all eyes were fixed on her, she said, "I'm sure everyone here is aware of Konoha's current situation. Our ANBU units are under attack from an unknown threat. So far we have lost two ANBU teams to what we can only assume are ambushes."

"And what are we doing about it?" questioned a jounin near the back.

Sakura glanced down at Naruto, who got the message and stood up. Sakura sat down and Naruto began. "As of now, nothing. Because we do not know who's behind the attacks we can not come up with any real good plan. As a ninja I'm sure you are aware of the fact that a plan that would work against Iwa ninja might not work against Kiri ninja." Naruto stopped briefly, letting his eyes sweep the room. "The only thing we can do right now is warn our ANBU to be on the look out and send them out."

"Wait so we're just going to keep sending them out to be slaughtered?" Another voice spoke up angrily.

"And you would have us stop taking missions? Danger isn't a stranger to us ninja. In fact, they way I see things, we're better off knowing for a fact that there **is**someone out there trying to kill us as opposed to how that matter is usually nothing more then a if. Hopefully, it means that ANBU won't make any reckless moves." Naruto replied.

Shikamaru now stood up, looking at Sakura instead of Naruto. "What have the autopsies revealed?"

Naruto and Shikamaru sat back down as the medic-nin stood back up. "Unfortunately, the autopsies have not yet been done. They are scheduled to be completed by the end of the day, but as I was telling Lord Hokage earlier, as of right now poison is the likely cause of death." Sakura paused to take a breath. "But that is not to say that it couldn't be something else. There are also a few genjustus I know of that could result in the brain completely shutting down and thus killing the one it was used on. This would cause the same symptoms that we are seeing on the bodies."

"Have the families of the deceased been notified?" Ino asked.

Sakura looked to Naruto for the answer. Naruto stood back up as she sat down. "As of now, no. We wish to keep this as low-profiled as we can."

"Surely you aren't suggesting that we don't tell them anything?" A shocked voice cut through the room.

Naruto shook his head. "All I'm saying is that I don't want to tell the general public more than they need to know. As for the families of the deceased, they will be notified of the unfortunate incident after the autopsies have been done."

A heavy silence hung over the room, everyone waiting with held breath for the answer to the question they were dieing to know, but to afraid to ask. Finally, shifting uncomfortably, Mayko reluctantly asked, "Who were the ANBU members?"

"The first team we lost was out on a mission to the Sunagakure. The members were: Watanabe Aika, Koboyashi Ryuu, and Akahoshi Hikaru - all deceased." Sakura said. "The second team was on a routine reconnaissance mission. The members were: Sawada Koto, and Fujiwara Kyo - both of which are deceased."

"And what of the third member?" Chouji asked. "There were three of them, correct."

Sakura glanced sideways at Naruto, who stared back curiously. "Uh - yes, there were three. The third member is in ICU. As of right now he's in a coma and there is no telling when he will wake up...if ever."

A conversation of hushed voices soon filled the room as those present sort through the information they had just been given. Of the few who sat quietly, Naruto, oddly enough, numbered among them. He too was turning the disturbing news over in his mind, but something seemed off to him. It was a few minutes before he was able to pin point what it was. Sakura hadn't told them the third ANBU's identity.

"Um, Sakura?" He said, catching everyone's attention. "Who is the ANBU in ICU?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably before meeting Naruto's eyes. "The ANBU is Hyuuga Neji."


	6. Chapter 6

**Shadowkitsune95: So, here's chapter 6 of Idle Wind...finally. Sorry for the wait, I've had a serious case of writter's block. Anyways, thank you for those of you who are still reading. This particular chapter is dedicated to my dear twin Kris Whitlock Hale Cullen...I doubt it would have gotten done if you hadn't bugged me about it. Hope you enjoy!**

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Naruto pushed through the doors of Konoha's hospital and stormed over to the front desk. "Where is he?" He demanded of the confused nurse that sat behind the check-in counter.

The girl looked at Naruto in bewilderment and finally managed a quiet reply. "I'm sorry Lord Hokage, but I don't know of whom you speak."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but before he was able to he was nearly ran over by Sakura and Mayko who had just arrived. Both of them clung to the counter, trying to catch their breath. When they had succeeded, Sakura rounded on Naruto. "What are you doing? You can't just come storming in here barking demands and questions, expecting everyone to know what you're talking about."

Naruto clenched his fists and glared at Sakura. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Sakura shook her head. "Naruto, there's nothing you could've done. Tsunade's done her best and all we can do is wait."

"That doesn't answer my question!" Naruto nearly shouted.

"Please Naruto, calm down, you're making a scene." Mayko pleaded. "You weren't informed of who it was earlier because we were afraid you'd do something reckless..."

"Wait," Naruto growled, cutting off Mayko. "You knew?"

Mayko hesitated before nodding. "Before you start shouting again, **listen**. We weren't trying to keep anything from you. But we knew the first thing you'd do upon hearing that Neji was hospitalized is run down here and we needed you at the meeting. You're the leader of the village now, Naruto, and you have certain obligations to fulfill which includes being at these meetings."

Naruto continued to stare angrily at the two kunoichi, but said nothing in response. Of course he knew he had responsibilities, he also knew he would have ditched the meeting if they had told him sooner. But he was hardly in the mood to listen to reason. So instead, he turned back to the young nurse and repeated his question. "Where is he?"

The nurse looked questioningly between the three ninja gathered in front of her desk. She spun around in her chair and began flipping through a stack of papers. "Hyuuga Neji, correct?" she said, glancing briefly over her shoulder to see Naruto nod. "He's in room 211. Second floor."

Naruto nodded again and hurried towards the stairs, followed closely by the two kunoichi that whispered hastily to each other. But Naruto ignored them and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. When he got to the second floor, he slowed down so he could read the room numbers. There was really no real reason for him to, he knew the hospital better then anyone, second only to the nurses. He'd landed himself in here to many times not to know his way around.

But now he wasn't sure he wanted to see Neji. No, that wasn't right – he didn't think he **could** see Neji. He had managed to stay somewhat detached from the whole ANBU ambushing dilemma, but now that one of his friends had become the victim of one of these ambushes, the weight of the whole thing seemed to be crushing him. A part of him was afraid that when he saw Neji, he'd snap. He didn't think he would be able to do what needed to be done to protect the village.

Naruto stopped outside the door of room 211 and reached hesitantly for the handle. His hand closed around the handle, but instead of opening the door he stood there, staring blankly at it. He could feel Sakura and Mayko watching him curiously. Glancing briefly at them from the corner of his eyes, Naruto slowly pulled open the door. Stepping inside his eyes were immediately drawn to the only bed occupying the room.

Naruto walked slowly over to the bed, flanked by the two silent kunoichi. He stared. The occupant of the bed hardly resembled the usually proud Hyuuga that Naruto had come to call his friend. His long hair was spread in disarray around his head and his skin was unusually pale. Now and then his eyelids would twitch and his chest would rise and fall. These and the steady beeping of the heart moniter were the only idecations that the young man was still alive.

"Did Hinata know?" Naruto asked quietly, not taking his eyes away from Neji.

Mayko nodded." Yes. The Hyuuga clan was informed immediently."

Naruto sighed and sank down into a seat beside the bed. "What are we going to do? We can't let things continue like this." He said wearily, looking up at the two women who stood side by side. But neither of them had an answer for him. All of them knew that without knowing who was behind the ambushes there really was nothing for them to do.

The door slid open, startling the three ninja. Hinata stood hesitantly by the door, Kiba and Shino hovered close behind her. "N-Naruto." She stuttered, watching the blonde man nervously. A light blush made it's why across her cheeks and she glanced away.

Kiba pushed past her into the room. "You sure made off in a hurry." He said, throwing himself down into another chair.

Naruto ignored him and continued to stare at Hinata. Shino gave the shy kunoichi a small nudge, but she stumbled into the room as if she had been forcefully pushed. Hinata made her way across the room, careful not to meet anyone's eyes. She sat on the opposite side of Neji's bedside from everyone else and stared blankly at her cousin's motionless face.

The awkward quiet that soon filled the room, didn't have a chance to linger long before the door was once again thrown open and two more ninja joined the melancholic group. Reiko was the first through, dragging a whimpering Daichi by the ear. "Lord Hokage, there you are! We were worried when you ran off."

"Speak for yourself." Daichi grumbled. "And would you let go of me woman!"

Instead of releasing her hold on the older ninja, she twisted his ear and glared at him. "You should show some more respect! This is a hospital!"

"Ow, ow, ow! Release me!" Daichi cried, flailing his arms around in a pathetic attempt to free himself.

Mayko sighed as she watched the two. Yup, she definitely should have started carrying around that aspirin. Next to her, Sakura suppressed a smile and cleared her throat. "Both of you are being quite disrespectable, if I do say so myself."

At the sound of Sakura's voice, Reiko released Daichi and spun around to face the medic-nin. Her face had turned a spectacular shade of red and her glasses slipped precariously down her nose. She flung herself into a bow, stuttering out an apology and had to catch her glasses as they fell. Reiko stood back up, blushing even more if possible and shoved her glasses back on.

Daichi sat on the floor, rubbing his ear and muttering under his breath. Slowly his unintelligible mumbles faded away and he turned to face the assembled group. His eyes locked with Naruto's and he raised an eyebrow. "Well, Uzumaki…what's next?"

Naruto sighed and looked back at Neji. "I think I may have an idea."


	7. Chapter 7

**ShadowKitsune95: This chapter was fairly easy to write, which was good. However now more's going to start happening so it's probably going to get harder... *sigh* oh well. I figure I'll still get it done. My dear twin-face will see to that, I'm sure. Anyways, hope you enjoy!**

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Mayko paced back and forth in front of Naruto's desk back in the Hokage's office. The gathered ninja watched her wearily as she mumbled angrily to herself. She'd been at it for a good ten minutes and they were sure she was just seconds away from wearing a hole into the floor. Finally she swung around to glare at the blonde man sitting stiffly behind his desk. "Are you insane?" She nearly shouted, making Reiko jump slightly.

Naruto shook his head. "Come on Mayko, trust me. They might know something."

"And did it ever cross your mind that it **just might** be them?"

Naruto sighed and coolly met the furious kunoichi's gaze. "It's not them, it's not his style."

"He's changed, Naruto. You can't be sure." Shino, who was leaning against the wall by the door, said evenly. "You haven't seen him in years."

TenTen shifted uncomfortably where she sat on the couch between Lee and Hinata. "Does it really matter? Whether it's them or not, I mean. The Hokage really shouldn't be leaving the village right now anyway…not with everything that's happening."

"But…" Naruto started but was abruptly cut off.

"No! No buts." Mayko all but growled. "TenTen's right. It's stupid for you to even consider it! What if something happened while you were gone?"

"But we're never going to find out anything unless we try." Sakura whispered.

Mayko turned to stare at her wide-eyed. "You're agreeing with him?"

Sakura hesitated before taking a deep breath and answering. "Not exactly. I think we **do**need to find out what they know, however…I don't think that Naruto should be the one to go."

"What?" Naruto cried, standing abruptly and tipping his chair. "Why not?"

"Because you're the Hokage. You're our most important person, you have to be protected and we can't do that if you're out running around." Sakura explained.

"I'll take Reiko and Daichi with me." Naruto insisted.

"No way! Keep me out of this one." Daichi said shaking his head. Reiko reached out and hit him over the head, seemingly out of habit.

Mayko sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She sat down on the edge of Naruto's cluttered desk. "You're the Hokage now. It's not just about what **you**want to do, Naruto. You have to have the best interests of the village in mind and you're not gonna do anyone any favors by running off. You have to stay here and protect the people."

Naruto righted his chair and sat down. He slowly looked over the room, his eyes landing on each of his friends. He sighed and slumped over the desk. "Fine."

Everyone let out a collective sigh when the stubborn blonde gave in. They all relaxed slightly; glad to have settled that…they should've known it wouldn't be that easy. "So who's going to go?" Naruto asked, sitting back up and grinning at the gathered ninja. They all stared back at him like he'd grown a second head.

"What no volunteers?" When everyone remained silent Naruto shrugged. "Then I'll pick. Mayko, you'll lead the team."

Mayko twitched. "What? Why me? I don't know anything about him!"

Naruto smiled widely and stood. He walked around his desk and threw an arm around the disgruntled kunoichi's shoulders. "This is why Sakura will be going with you. And, hm…who else?" Naruto scanned the room carefully. "Ah, yes. TenTen, will go too."

The three kunoichi stared at Naruto, half hoping he was joking, the other half well aware that he wasn't and trying very hard not to hit him. Slowly they seemed to come to terms with the fact that they were going to be sent out on a rather…complicated mission. After all, communication between the two villages hadn't really even existed for years now. Randomly showing up outside the gate was bound to cause some tension. Before anything else could be said though, a light knock on the doors caught everyone's' attention.

An ANBU slowly opened the door and bowed. "Sorry for interrupting Lord Hokage, but you have a visitor."

Naruto frowned and stepped away from Mayko. "Can't it wait? We're busy."

"Well, you see Lord Hokage, it's an emissary from Suna…she brings important news." The ANBU carefully explained.

"From Suna?" Naruto glanced across the room at Sakura who looked just as surprised as him. "Let her in."

"As you wish." The ANBU said, bowing once again before turning and exiting the room.

A few seconds after the ANBU's exit, a kunoichi with a large fan draped over her back walked through the door. Unlike most she didn't seem to feel the need to bow to Hokage and instead strode confidently into the room. She stopped in front of Naruto and a small smile appeared of her face. "Long time not see, Naruto."

"Temari," Naruto grinned widely. "What's up?"

Temari sighed and her smile faded. "Nothing good unfortunately."

Sakura stepped forward, laying a hand softly on the older ninja's shoulder. "The ANBU said that you had important news. What's going on?"

"We're under attack by an unknown enemy. They're targeting our jounin and ANBU and there haven't been any survivors." Temari said uneasily. "We've lost quite a few good ninja."

"So," Shikamaru sighed. "Suna too, huh? How troublesome."

Temari looked over at him quizzically. "Us too? Does that mean you guys are having the same problem?"

"Unfortunately." Naruto nodded. "Like you guys, we don't have any idea who it is. However, we've had a survivor."

Temari noticed that he was careful not to look her in the eyes as he said that. She glanced at Mayko who sat slightly behind him, still perched on the messy desk. Mayko slightly shook her head, so Temari didn't ask who the lucky ninja was, but instead went down what she figured would be a safer road. "Do you have a plan then?"

Naruto perked back up. The smile he flashed brightened up his face and it was hard to tell that just a few seconds earlier he had been so depressed. "Of course!"

Mayko rolled her eyes. "Yes, unfortunately, we have a plan. Not much of one though."

Naruto glared over his shoulder at the pessimistic Mayko. "We can trust him!"

Temari looked between them and noticed the sudden uncomfortable aura in the room. She shifted her weight to her other foot and cleared her throat. "I hope you don't mind me asking what it is. I'm sure Gaara would like to know."

When neither Naruto nor Mayko answered TenTen stood up and stretched. "Well, Mayko, Sakura and I are going on a road trp." She smiled. Temari looked over at her and raised an eyebrow.

Mayko sighed and stood up. "If only it were that simple." She made her way to the door, stopping to look back she calmly motioned for the others to follow. "Come on, we better get ready." Sakura and TenTen nodded and followed her out the door, waving goodbye to Temari as they went.

Temari, who was still confused, looked back at Naruto who was glaring after the retreating trio. "So…where are they going?"

A soft voice from the floor to ceiling window behind the desk answered, worry tinting her voice. "They're going to find out what they know." Hinata said quietly. "Th-they're going to the-the Sound Village."


	8. Chapter 8

TenTen sat on the floor of her apartment. Covering the floor around her were bits and pieces of equipment. She was carefully going through everything one at a time and deciding if it was something she needed or not. If she thought it might be useful she sealed it into a scroll, if it was thought useless she set it aside to be put away when she was done. By the door sat her backpack, completely packed except for the scrolls she was using now.

At the hospital Sakura tended to her patients. She had already packed and kept glancing anxiously at the clock. She did this more and more frequently as the time of their departure drew closer. She soon found it hard to concentrate and gave up trying. She instead sat in her office looking over reports and arranging to have Hinata finish the autopsies on the deceased ANBU.

Mayko sat in the over stuffed chair that seemed so out of place in the gloomy room in which it resided. Her head was leaned over the back. She stared blankly at the ceiling, listening to the quiet shuffle of papers. Her backpack sat at her feet, fully packed.

"Don't worry so much." Ino sighed. "You're bringing me down."

Mayko tilted her head to the side to look at the head of Torture and Interrogation. "If anything I'm not worrying enough – and this room is a lot more likely to bring your mood down than I am."

Ino shook her head. "I've gotten use to it. But seriously Mayko, you have nothing to worry about. Daichi and Reiko will look after Naruto."

"Oh yeah, Daichi and Naruto, that's a safe combination." Mayko rolled her eyes and looked back at the ceiling.

"You're underestimating Naruto. He can be mature when the occasion calls for it." Ino smiled.

Mayko sighed. "But none of the occasions I need him to be serious for!"

Ino laughed. "Well, Naruto never was one to do as he was told."

"Ain't that the truth?" Mayko mumbled.

"As much as I'm enjoying this conversation, you should get going." Ino said.

Mayko sighed again and stood up. She picked up her pack and headed toward the door. "Well, wish me luck."

"Good luck and don't worry so much. I'll keep an eye on everything." Ino replied.

"I make no promises. See ya." Mayko waved and disappeared through the door.

Naruto sat behind his desk, glaring half heartedly at the stack of papers in front him. It was no fair…why did he have to be the one stuck doing this? Naruto spun his chair around to look out the window. He didn't like the view of the village as much as he did from the Hokage Mountain, but he figured he could get use to it.

He stood up and walked over to the window. He sighed and leaned his forehead against the glass. He'd do anything to be the one going on the mission to the Sound Village. He'd only been Hokage for a week, if that and he was already missing the freedom of being able to take off whenever he wanted. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to have finally achieved his dream…he just missed being able to hang out with his friends on missions. Paperwork really wasn't that fun.

When Mayko arrived at the gate to the village TenTen and Sakura were already there waiting. Mayko walked past them and out the gate. The two kunoichi trailed behind, just as quiet and lost in they're own thoughts. The silence didn't much bother Mayko. It was a nice change of pace from the constant noise that couldn't be avoided when you worked with Naruto.

They continued in this silence, broken only by the occasional bird, until they stopped for lunch. The spot they picked was a small clearing a few miles away from the road they had been following. Tenten leaned back enjoying the sun, thankful to be away from the constant tension that seemed to cling to the ninja of Konoha since news of an unknown enemy was released. "If we keep going at the pace we have been, we should reach the border around sunset." She said absent mindedly.

Mayko looked over her shoulder toward the northern border of the Land of Fire and sighed. "I'm definitely not looking forward to this."

"Just relax and enjoy the quiet. You'll have plenty of time to worry later." TenTen smiled and took a sip from her canteen.

Mayko turned back to glare at TenTen. "I'm **not** worrying!"

"Yeah right!" Sakura laughed. "You **always** worry…most of the time unnecessarily."

Mayko ignored them and began to pack her stuff. After she was done she laid down, using her backpack as a pillow and stared at the sky. TenTen was right about one thing at least. Enjoying the quiet…except, she found that after a more or less silent morning, she couldn't help missing the loud and annoying antics of those she was forced to work with. Sighing she closed her eyes and waited for Sakura and TenTen to finish eating.

Meanwhile back in Konoha, Naruto was sitting at his desk staring blankly at the beginning of a letter written in his own sloppy hand writing. The beginning had been easy, but how was he suppose to tell this family that their husband and family wouldn't be coming home? He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Of all the things he thought he'd be doing as Hokage, this had never crossed his mind…writing letters to tell the family of deceased ninja that he had sent them out on a mission only to have them die.

The doors to his office opened and Hinata slipped in, closing the doors behind her. She walked to Naruto's desk, a look of concern on her face. "N-Naruto?" She stuttered slightly, her normal blush coloring her cheeks.

Naruto looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, Hinata. What are you doing here?"

"I-I wanted to see how you w-were." She replied softly.

Naruto frowned and shrugged. "I'm ok. I'm more worried about you Hinata. Have you been to see Neji today?"

Hinata nodded and sat in one of chairs in front of the desk. "Yes, th-there's no change."

"I'm sorry." Naruto said, looking away.

Hinata looked at him in surprise. "Why are you apologizing, Naruto? You couldn't h-help it! Neji knew the dangers of being a ninja…every n-ninja knows." She looked down at the letter he had begun to write and the picture and profile on the deceased ninja. Glancing back up at him she offered a shy smile. "I-I'll help you write the condolence letters if you want."

Naruto stared at her. Slowly he began to smile again. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Hinata stood up and drug her chair around the desk to sit next to Naruto. Blushing more than usual she leaned over the desk to see what he had so far. She nodded. "Th-this is good s-so far."

Daichi and Reiko walked down the hall toward the Hokage's office. Both of them were just returning from lunch, and neither was too eager to return to the confine of the office. Daichi sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Why don't we just ditch?"

"Daichi!" Reiko cried in astonishment. "Have you no work ethic? It's our obligation as ninja of Konoha to protect the Hokage and show up to work no matter how we feel about it!"

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, Rei. Learn to have some fun once in awhile."

"I have plenty of fun, thank you very much!" she sniffed. "I just know when it's appropriate to and when it's not."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever ya say."

Reiko glared at him, but decided not to respond. When the two reached the double doors that marked the entrance to the Hokage's office, Daichi opened the door and poked his head through, ready to make a loud and obnoxious entrance only to freeze. He quickly withdrew his head, shutting the door and grinning at Reiko. Reiko looked at him confused. "What?"

Daichi grinned and pulled a struggling Reiko back down the hall. "It seems we have the rest of the day off."

"Why?" Reiko asked, still trying to free her arm from Daichi's clutch.

"Hinata's keeping him company."

Reiko, still looking confused, finally managed to pull her arm free. "I don't understand."

Daichi sighed. "Are you really that thick? Listen, Hinata likes – more than likes- our dear Hokage and it's about time he realized it. What better way for him to than through spending some quality time with her, hm?"

"Oh." Reiko said quietly.

"Exactly." Daichi grinned. "Now come on, I'm gonna teach you how to have some fun." And with that he grabbed the kunoichi again and began down the spiraling stairs.

"But what's fun for you isn't fun for me" Reiko cried. "You're fun is insane!"


	9. Chapter 9

That night Mayko, Tenten and Sakura camped out just behind the border between The Land of Fire and Rice. No one got much sleep that night, their guards completely up. As such, the next morning, they moved around their camp some what sluggishly as they ate and packed up. Before the sun was even fully up the small group was back on the road, setting course for the middle of sound ninja territory.

The whole trip was rather uneventful, but every unfamiliar sound made the three kunoichi jump. Their nerves got stretched thinner and thinner the closer they came to Otogakure. For awhile the trees that had surrounded the traveling companions for most of the journey thinned out and they found themselves walking through large plains with tall grass and soft rolling hills. It was here that they stopped for lunch.

TenTen threw her bag down and flopped down next to it. She took a long drink from her canteen. Sighing she laid back and covered her eyes with her arm. "I'm exhausted." She said her voice slightly muffled as she fought back a yawn.

Sakura sat down and began to pull out some onigiri. "Yeah, me too. I hardly slept at all."

"Me too! Every little noise made my skin crawl…it's been so long since we've been up this way, it's kinda weird, ya know?" TenTen replied.

Mayko ignored the two's conversation, sitting down a little ways from them. She pulled out her own food and quickly ate it. Occasionally she'd scan the fuzzy black line on the horizon she figured must be the start of another forest. Somewhere in those trees laid their destination. She couldn't wait to get this over with and get back to Konoha. _That is if we don't get killed first _an annoying voice in the back of her head whispered.

"Hey," Sakura said raising her voice slightly to be sure Mayko could hear. "How are we gonna get in to see him?"

Mayko stared hard at the ground in front of her before sighing and moving to join her two friends. "I don't really have an idea. I've been thinking about it, but none of them seems quite right." She shrugged and picked at the grass. "Maybe we'll just wing it."

"That's almost a sure fire way to get us killed." TenTen frowned.

Mayko looked up at her. "If you have a better idea I'd love to hear it."

TenTen chewed on her bottom lip, apparently trying to think up a plan. After awhile she sighed and shook her head. "Alright, I'll do things your way."

"Good." Mayko smiled and got up. She dusted her pants off and walked back to bag. "Pack up. I want to hurry and get this over with."

**

Hinata was in the morgue in the basement of the Konoha Hospital. The room was always kept cool to help better preserve the bodies that lay in freezer drawers along the walls. At the moment she was performing the first autopsy on the deceased ANBU, Sawada Koto. Her assistant, Hitoshi, sat on a chair near the stainless steal table the body laid on. When Hinata asked he quietly handed her the instrument she had wanted.

This had been going on for awhile when something caught Hinata's attention. She reached up and adjusted the light to better see. "Hitoshi," She whispered, "I-I think I figured out."

Hitoshi got out of his chair and leaned over the cadaver to look at what the other medic was looking at. His eyes widen and he looked up at Hinata. "Why…I do believe your right." He smiled.

Hinata straighten up and took off the gloves she had been wearing. She calmly tossed them into the nearest trashcan and went to wash her hands. "Hitoshi, I want you to inform Na-Naruto that we have discovered the cause of death. We'll n-need to hold a meeting with ANBU Intelligence members. They may know more about what areas it's used in."

Hitoshi nodded and took off out of the morgue, letting the heavy metal door slam behind him as he left. Hinata sighed and leaned against the stainless steal counter across the room from the body of Sawada Koto. She turned back to the sink to wash her hands, silently mulling over what she had just discovered and what it meant for Konoha.

**

Mayko stepped into the shade of the large trees and instantly missed the warmth of the sun. She sighed, but continued forward. Behind her she could hear the quiet footsteps of her teammates over the dirt that covered the forest floor. Adjusting her grip on her bag, Mayko altered their course to head in a more westernly direction. She hoped to reach the village gates soon, if only so that she wouldn't have to sleep in tent again. She soon got her wish. Just before the sun began to set the tall gate that surrounded the new permanent residence of the Village Hidden in Sound appeared between the thick trees. All three kunoichi let out sighs of relief and unconsciously picked up their pace. However, when they reached the gates they were stopped by two sound jounin who were guarding that gate.

"Who are you?" Asked the taller of the two. He had black hair with dark blue eyes. He was leaning against the wall beside the gate, arms crossed over his chest and a cigarette clenched between his teeth.

"I'm Akagawa Mayko. We're a team from Konohagakure sent to talk to the Otokage." Mayko said, stepping forward so that she stood in front of Sakura and TenTen.

The shorter of the two ninja pushed himself away from the wall. He had long brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail and warm brown eyes. He smiled at the group and replied. "Wow, it's been quite awhile since we've had visitors from the Land of Fire. I'm Tatsuya and my manner-less partner over there is Satoshi. I'll take you to the Otokage Tower; however I can't guarantee that you'll be able to see him."

Mayko nodded. "We understand, thank you."

Tatsuya smiled and motioned for them to follow him. The big double doors in the gate were pushed open and they hesitantly followed the smiling guard into the strange village. The buildings seemed to be piled on top of each other. You could hardly tell where one ended and the other began. All restaurants seemed to be open-air and were crowded with loud, exuberant groups of people who paid no mind to the foreign shinobi. In the middle of the village stood a squat building with a scattering of mismatched windows. A large music note hung over the dark double doors that marked the entrance to the building. TenTen stared at it in quiet disbelief before leaning towards Mayko to whisper in her ear. "They call **that** a tower?"

Mayko grinned, slightly amused but none-the-less softly elbowed TenTen in the ribs, silently warning her to keep her jokes until when they were alone. The three entered the building and had to stop, each blinking rabidly in an attempt to adjust their eyes to the poorly lit room. Tatsuya had continued ahead, without pausing, to a fairly large desk that sat at the far end of the room. He held a whispered conversation with the receptionist behind the desk before both of them walked back over to the three Konoha ninja.

Tatsuya smiled pleasantly and explained what was going on. It seemed that they were going to be able to see the Otokage, but he could not show them the way and instead they would be escorted by the receptionist. When they reached the Otokage's greeting chamber they would be asked to leave their bags outside and endure a quick search for any weapons hidden on their person. They consented and were shown down a narrow hallway of the left of the room by the receptionist.

After going through the search by masked ninja, they assumed were the sound's equivalent of ANBU, they were lead into the Otokage's greeting chamber. It was better lit and more lavishly furnished than any other room they'd seen since arriving in the village. Sitting at the end of the room on a raised dais was a rather large chair – more throne like really- with a dark purple rug under it. Perched on this seat was a raven haired man with black eyes. His smile sent shivers down Mayko's spine. She watched him wearily and TenTen stayed close beside her. Sakura on the other hand stepped forward, her eyes locked on the man before her. She seemed at a lose of what to say. The man seemed to realize this, so instead he decided to be the first to break the uneasy silence.

"It's been awhile, Sakura." Sasuke Uchiha smirked.

* * *

**ShadowKitsune95: Ok, so yeah...I don't know if Otokage is the correct name for the Sound Village's kage , in fact I highly doubt that it is. If anyone knows what it really is I would very much appreciate it if you could let me know. Thank you for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Mayko watched Sakura out of the corner of her eye, waiting to see how she would react to seeing her old teammate for the first time in who knew how many years. Sakura continued to stand there staring at the Uchiha as if turned to stone. Just when Mayko was contemplating elbowing her in the ribs just to get a reaction, Sakura blinked and answered him. "You're doing well I see."

Sasuke looked around the large room and nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose I am. However, I'm more interested in what brings you to my village. Last time I checked Konoha didn't quite like us."

"Believe me, this isn't my favorite place." Mayko said, and leaned against the nearest wall. "However, as a ninja, it's my duty to listen to whatever ridiculous ideas my Hokage may have. For whatever reason Naruto still seems to trust you."

Sasuke sat up straighter in his chair, seemingly more interested. "Naruto made Hokage, huh?"

Mayko crossed her arms over her chest and nodded. "Of course."

"And just what exactly is he trusting me with?" He asked.

"Sharing what you know." Sakura supplied.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Sharing what I know? About what?" He asked curiously. Sakura glanced at Mayko and received a small nod. Taking a deep breath Sakura stepped closer to the raised dais and began to explain the recent string of ANBU murders the village of Konoha had been undergoing.

**

Hinata stood nervously in front of the Council and Naruto. Hitoshi had spread the news of the break through in record time and an hour later Hinata had been sent a message instructing her to attend the meeting that was to be held in the Hokage Tower. She shifted uncomfortably under the close scrutiny of those seated before her. Taking a steadying breath she carefully began to explain what she had found. "The autopsies on the deceased ANBU have been completed and I believe I've found the cause of death." Hinata said. She scanned the room, her eyes eventually finding Naruto's. Smiling slightly she continued. "All units were poisoned. The poison used was a close relative of curare."

Naruto raised his hand as if he was back in the academy. However he didn't wait for Hinata to call on him and instead blurted out his question. "Yeah, um – what's curare?"

"W-well," Hinata said. "It's a poison common to Kusagakure, though that is no longer the only place it can be found. It's not the most pleasant way to die. Whoever is infected with curare is very much awake and all too aware of what is happening until finally they lose consciousness. Consequently, the victim can feel the gr- gradual paralysis but can't do anything like talk or gesture. The good news is because curare doesn't stop the heart from beating for quite some time, but the breathing only, if artificial respiration is performed throughout the ordeal, the victim will recover with no bad effects."

"So, it is possible to save those infected with it?" questioned the council member closets to Hinata.

Hinata nodded. "Yes, but with how the enemy is planning it, it isn't very likely."

"How'd Neji survive then?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I'm not sure yet, but I hope to figure it out." Hinata replied. "If we can we may be able to save more ANBU's lives."

**

"So let me get this straight." Sasuke said as he paced back and forth in front of the trio of kunoichi. "Konoha's ANBU are being killed, you have no idea who's behind it or how they're doing it, and to top it all off you're hoping I have the answers to all of your problems."

"Not exactly." Mayko sighed. She was sitting cross-legged in Sasuke's chair. "We want you to **help** solve all our problems."

"Look at it this way; whoever's doing this is probably out to gain more power by taking out both Suna and Konoha. If that is indeed the case then it's only a matter of time until they start targeting you." Sakura said. She was sitting on the lowest step that lead to the top of the dais.

"And what makes you think we even know anything?" Sasuke asked, stopping his constant pacing to stare at them.

TenTen leaned back against the chair Mayko currently occupied and shrugged. "Technically, it's not us that thought you knew something…it was Naruto. In fact Mayko was almost convinced that you were the one behind it." Mayko glared and hit TenTen over the head earning a surprised yelp from the weapons mistress.

"Don't tell him that!" Mayko hissed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the two. "Alright, I'm only saying this once so listen carefully. Otogakure **is not** in **anyway** responsible for what is happening to Konoha. Nor do I have any idea who it is."

Mayko nodded slowly. "Ok…then I guess the next question will be; will you help us?" Sakura and TenTen tilted their heads back to look at their team's leader. When they realized that she was serious and staring intently at Sasuke, they too turned to look at him, waiting for his answer.

There was a heavy silence as Sasuke mulled over his options. After an uncomfortable few minutes Sasuke climbed up the dais stairs to stand in front of Mayko. "Alright. We'll help for now, but any moment I feel like it's not worth it then I will withdraw my help, leaving Konoha and Suna to fend for themselves."

Mayko smiled and shook the hand Sasuke offered her. "You have a deal."

**

The three kunoichi sat at a booth in the back of a small bar outside of the Otokage Tower. They'd been sitting there for a little over a half hour talking about the recent developments in their mission. Tenten stabbed at her food making a face at the unfamiliar food. "What is this stuff? It looks disgusting."

Mayko looked over and wrinkled her nose. "I don't know, but it sure stinks."

Sakura laughed at the two and took a bite of her own food. "That's why I went with something I could actually read the name of. Good ol' Shrimp Yakisoba." She smacked her lips and grinned at the other two.

Mayko sighed. "All I wanted to do was try something different." She pushed her plate away from her and picked up her cup of sake. She took an experimental sip and nodded in approval. "At least the sake's good."

Now it was Sakura's turn to make a face. "How can you drink that stuff?" She asked.

"Easy," Mayko smirked and took another drink. "It's good!"

TenTen laughed. The brunette then returned her attention to her plate. She picked up a piece of what she assumed was some sort of meat and hesitantly put it in her mouth. Sakura and Mayko watched as she slowly turned an odd green color. Both of them scooted away from the other kunoichi. TenTen suddenly jumped up from the table and made a mad dash for the nearest bathroom. Sakura and Mayko looked at each other bemused before they both burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.


	11. Chapter 11

_Sukiyaki, dango, onigiri, domburi..._

"…Sasuke."

Mayko crinkled her nose at the voice and rolled over mumbling, "No thanks, I'm not a cannibal."

_Yakizakana, yakisoba, gyoza…_

"What the hell did she say?" Another voice interrupted the delicious parade of food that floated just out of reach of Mayko's hands.

"I think she's dreaming." The first voice replied amusedly.

_Tempura, okonomiyaki…_

"About cannibalism?" The second voice asked skeptically. Mayko opened her eyes and groggily sat up. On either side of her bed stood TenTen and Sakura, TenTen being the more amused of the two.

"About time." Sakura said irritably. "We have to go meet with Sasuke."

Mayko looked at the pink haired kunoichi for a few seconds before flopping backwards and pulling her blanket over her head. "I want real food." She whined. This caused Sakura to laugh. TenTen made a face and tugged half-heartedly at the blanket covering Mayko.

"You weren't the one that got sick." She pointed out.

Mayko peeked out of the blankets at her and was relived to see that she had returned to her normal color, the green tinge that had accompanied her back to the hotel seemed to have disappeared over night. Mayko sighed and literally rolled out of bed almost landing on Sakura's feet as she did so. She slowly stood up and rubbed sleepily at her eyes. "I'm not a morning person." She said stifling a yawn.

"It's almost ten." TenTen informed the tired ninja.

Mayko shrugged and stumbled towards her bag. "Ten's still morning." TenTen and Sakura rolled their eyes and left the room to let Mayko get ready in peace.

**

Naruto glared down at the enemy that dare defy him. Seated behind his desk he knew it was only a matter of time before he would have to get to work. As much as he hated to admit it, none of the paperwork sitting on his desk would disappear on its own. He sighed and picked up the nearest pen. He pulled over a stack of papers and was getting ready to read the top page when the door squeaked open and Hinata sidled inside. "Hello, N-Naruto." She stammered.

Naruto grinned and hopped over his desk, scattering papers over the floor. "What're you doing here?"

Hinata blushed and pushed her index fingers together. "W-well, I was wondering if-if you wanted to go to lunch with m-me?"

"Sounds awesome!" Naruto said happily, but he caught sight of the papers lying on the floor and sighed, his smile disappearing. "But I can't. I have a lot of work to do." He bent down and picked up the paper lying at his feet.

"O-oh," Hinata said disappointedly. "I-I understand. Well, bye." And with that she quietly left the room.

Naruto sighed and turned around to face the mountainous pile of paperwork waiting for him on his desk. How was any one person supposed to be able to do all of it? And that's when it hit him…he didn't have to be just one person. In fact, he could both do his work and go out to lunch with Hinata. Dropping the paper and grinning at his genius, Naruto performed the required hand signs and was instantly rewarded when five copies of himself appeared in a half circle around him.

"Alright," Naruto grinned. "Here's what's going on; all that paper on the desk has to be read and signed. Then it needs to be filed away, but according to Mayko we have to be careful cuz the old lady was very vague when she labeled the folders. Everyone got it?" The clones all nodded and set about getting to work. Naruto watched for all of two seconds before dashing out the door, hoping he could still catch Hinata.

**

Mayko walked down the street, fighting back yawn after yawn. She was only vaguely aware of where she was walking. Behind her TenTen and Sakura discussed what they thought Sasuke wanted, but she was too tired to join in the debate. Mayko turned a corner and ran into what felt like a brick wall. She fall backwards and landed flat on her ass, much to her dismay. TenTen and Sakura hurried to help her up. "Sorry 'bout that." Mayko said as she brushed the dirt from her pants.

"Don't worry about it." A familiar voice replied happily.

Mayko looked up to get a good look at just who she had run into and was slightly surprised to see a smiling Tatsuya. Behind him stood a scowling Satoshi, his arms crossed over his chest. Tatsuya followed her gaze over his shoulder and frowned. "Don't mind him; he's just cranky about our latest mission. But you guys better hurry to the tower, Sasuke is waiting and…well he's not the most patient person."

"Thanks for the tip." TenTen replied and grabbed Mayko's hand pulling her past the two men. Sakura followed closely behind them.

A few minutes later the trio of kunoichi reached the Otokage Tower and was hurried into the same room as before by a pushy secretary. When they entered the room they were greeted by a glaring Uchiha. Mayko smirked and gave him a cheery wave and more or less skipped over to the dais where he stood. "Good morning!" She chirped happily.

TenTen glanced sideways at Sakura to see her trying not to laugh. Sakura noticed her confusion and smiled. "What? She's never been a big fan of him, so she'll take any chance she can to annoy him now that he's agreed to help."

"Is that really smart? Besides, I thought she didn't know him." TenTen whispered back, watching as Sasuke continued to glare at the now unusually happy kunoichi.

"No, it's not the brightest idea, but Mayko knows the limits." Sakura whispered back, also watching the two. "They briefly met back when Orochimaru was still alive and leader of Otogakure but, no she doesn't **really **know him." TenTen still looked confused but shook her head and chose not to pursue it further.

"Anyway," Sasuke nearly growled, "Lets get down to business. You guys will be leaving my village by noon to report back to Naruto. I'll send three other ninja with you. They have orders to keep me informed about what's going on and will make minor decisions. For any major ones I will still be consulted. Understood?"

"Someone's not in a good mood." Mayko muttered under her breath.

Sakura smiled. "We understand."

"Good. You'll be met at the gate by those going with you. You're dismissed." Sasuke said and walked out a door hidden behind his chair.

**

Naruto climbed the stairs to his office, his stomach full and a wide grin plastered on his face. That had been his best plan ever! All that was left to do was take a nice long nap on the sofa until dinner. He strutted through the halls to the doors and threw them open in a dramatic fashion. His grin dropped almost instantly.

His desk had been broke in half and papers were everywhere. The couch he had been planning on napping on had been dissected and could be found in pieces across the floor. His chair was missing, but was found once again when Naruto looked up to see it tied to a hook in the ceiling. His clones seemed to be taking turns swinging from it. "What the hell?" Naruto cried when he finally managed to collect his thoughts. "I told you to do the paperwork…not make my office into a playground!"

The nearest of the clones shrugged. "We did some."

"But then we got bored." One of the others said.

Naruto sighed, looking around his office a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. "Mayko and Sakura are gonna kill me."

* * *

**ShadowKitsune95: Hello everyone! I've had a few people ask me why Naruto doesn't use his clones to do his work, well that's my answer. If I remember correctly, Naruto and his clones all share the same personality so they'd be just as opposed to doing paperwork as he is. However, there's 5 of them and 5 bored Naruto's can't end well. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed!**


	12. Chapter 12

**ShadowKitsune95: Oh me gersh! It's been forever since I've updated. Sorry about that, but this chapter has been hell trying to write. I'm suffering from a major case of writer's block; I'm surprised I even managed to get this much written. Hope you enjoy despite how short it is and the absurd amount of crapiness.**

* * *

It was a few minutes before noon when the three kunoichi approached the village gate. They had finished packing early and figured they might as well go wait at the gate. However, as they drew closer to the massive doors, they noticed that there were three figures waiting nearby, spread out beneath a tree. Two of them were familiar; however the third was someone they had never seen before. He had spiky blonde hair and cold blue eyes, a silver loop pierced his lip. Going on looks alone, the three automatically assumed that this new ninja was about as friendly as Satoshi.

When he caught sight of them, Tatsuya waved a large smile on his face. "Hello!" He greeted them happily. "We're your new team members!"

Mayko returned a muttered hello, before yawning. TenTen laughed and slapped her on the back. "You're **still **tired, May? Maybe we shouldn't let you drink anymore."

Mayko glared at the weapons mistress. "First off, don't call me May. Second, booze has nothing to do with anything."

"Sure sure." TenTen said uninterestedly. She then turned to the strange ninja. "Hey. I'm TenTen!"

The blonde man grinned, taking the kunoichi off guard. Then in a slightly squeaky voice that they found hard not to laugh at when he replied, he introduced himself. "Hi! I'm Yuudai; I can't wait to see Konoha. I've never been!"

"Can't imagine why." Sakura said, the only one to have complete control over her laughter. "Any way, should we get going?"

"The sooner the better!" Yuudai chirped and ran off through the gate at top speed. Satoshi rolled his eyes, mumbling something incompressible, and started after his blonde teammate, slinging his pack over his shoulder. The eternally happy Tatsuya hurried after, closely followed by the now laughing trio of Konoha kunoichi.

They continued to walk well into the night with only short breaks in-between. All of them wanted to get as close to Konoha as possible before the clouds that had moved in above them began to dump their contents onto them. Unfortunately, somewhere around eleven, the sky opened up and rain began to pour down onto the traveling group's heads. They took shelter under a closely packed cluster of trees; they're wide leaves and far reaching branches kept most of the water off of the six ninja. However, the bitterly cold wind still cut through them, worming its way through any opening in their clothes, numbing their fingers and forcing them into a group to share body heat.

Mayko sat with her back against the tree, looking at a map she had pulled out of her bag. Tatsuya, who sat to her right, leaned over to read it as well. Mayko shook her head, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "This doesn't make sense." She said.

"What, exactly, doesn't make sense?" Satoshi, who sat in front of her and next to TenTen, asked. He blew into his cupped hands in a feeble attempt to warm them.

"We should have reached the break in the trees an hour ago." Mayko explained, tracing the path from Otogakure to Konoha with her finger. Tatsuya gently took the map from her to look over it himself. He too, came to the same conclusion.

"Is it possible we somehow got turned around? Took a wrong turn or something?" Yuudai asked in his squeaky voice. He had pulled a hat out of virtually nowhere and shoved it on his head, some stray raindrops dripped off the small brim.

TenTen shook her head, grabbing the map slightly more forcibly then necessary. "Impossible!"

Sakura looked at the map over the brunette's shoulder. A frown tugged at the corner of her lips. "Mayko's right, we should have reached the meadow by now…"

"So we're lost." Satoshi glowered. "Great. Just friggin' great!"

"I don't understand." Mayko muttered, barely audible. "I could have sworn we were going in the right direction." She sighed and leaned her head back, staring up through the leaves of the tree to the dark sky above.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Tatsuya said soothingly. "Everyone makes mistakes."

Mayko shook her head furiously. "I didn't make a mistake!" She growled.

Satoshi sighed and shifted into a more comfortable position. "It doesn't matter any more. As soon as the rain stops we're just going to have to find our way back onto the trail."

"I hope it's that easy." Sakura said absently.

TenTen looked at the pink haired kunoichi, eyebrow pulled together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's just weird…I've had the feeling that something was off for awhile now, but I couldn't put my finger on it until Mayko brought it up…" Sakura trailed off, biting her lip as she thought. The group watched her impatiently, waiting for her to finish what she'd been saying. "I think...I think we might be stuck in a genjutsu."

"A genjutsu?" Tatsuya echoed. He slowly nodded. "Yes, that would make sense."

"Well in that case, how do we dispel it?" Yuudai asked. "Genjutus' not really my thing."

Sakura smiled slightly when the other Konoha ninja turned to look at her. She made the needed hand sign and closed her eyes to concentrate. The small group blinked and looked around as the surrounding forest began to melt away to be replaced with a large cliff on one side and the thick foliage of the forest they had thought they were still inside on the other. Rain still fell, soaking the ground around them. A small creek ran out of the forest cutting in front of them and following the cliff for as far as they could see. "So we were right. It was a genjutsu." TenTen was the first to break the silence. "But who would do that?"

Mayko stood up, scanning their surroundings carefully; ears straining to hear anything that might give away their pursuers. "Our ANBU killers."


End file.
